A matter of time
by anordinarywriter
Summary: Time can be your ally or your enemy, it depends on how long you're willing to wait. Ha Ni and Seung Jo have known each other since they were kids. They might have liked each other before, or they will in the future. Meanwhile Eun Chan finds herself falling in love for the first time with someone who doesn't even know she's a girl. It's just a matter of time until they find the way.


**Spring 2002**

 **Oh Eun Chan**

This house is too big for us. I've always liked the connection me and my family have and this house is too big for my own liking. Yes, I know the earthquake destroyed our house, our home, the last place omma lived in, and I know dad is right by saying that we should move on, but I think I'm not ready yet.

"It's too big" I say, hoping they will think the same.

"I think it's okay" my father says. Of course it's okay, you chose it! "What do you think, snail?"

"I like it, appa!" my 10 year old sister says.

"There are four bedrooms, appa! We only need two. I can share with Ha Ni – ah. Besides, this house must be expensive, do we even have the money? And I don't like the color of this house, and I…"

"Stop it, Eun Chan!" Father interrupts me. "First of all, I don't want you to share rooms anymore. You are 15 and you need your… privacy, I guess. Ha Ni-ah needs to learn to sleep alone. Then I need my own room as well, you can do anything you want with the last one. Second, it wasn't that expensive. The last owners needed to leave the country and sold this house at a very low price, I already paid for more than half of it with the money we got in the insurance. And third, if you don't like the color, we can change it"

"You won't change your mind, will you?"

"No, honey. I will not"

"Okay then" I sigh defeated. "But I get to choose my room first" I smile, a fight with this man is not worth it. I never win.

"Go ahead" he says smiling as I get going to find my new room.

It doesn't take long for me to find it. It's a two story house, two rooms downstairs and two upstairs, plus a greenhouse on the roof. I must admit the house is beautiful. I guess I just miss mom and that house was one of the last memories we had from her. My room is not that big, is the same size as the one Ha Ni will have. I decided to leave the biggest room for Oppa, besides it's downstairs and Ha Ni will want to be with me in case she doesn't want to sleep alone.

I put my suitcase on the corner, the truck with our belongings is supposed to arrive at noon and it's only 10 a.m. Most of those things are new, since we lost almost everything when our house tumbled down.

There's a balcony outside my room and the view is beautiful, the house in front of us is bigger than this one, and even more beautiful I must say. I wish I could get out here from my own room.

As I'm admiring the view I notice I'm not alone, there's a boy around my sister's age looking at me through the window in the house in front of me. I smile and wave, trying to be nice at my new neighbor. He gives me a small smile and leaves. "He must be shy" I think.

I can hear my sister's laugh downstairs as she plays with Appa and I decide to join them.

"Ok Appa, I'm ready!" My sister says as she opens her mouth, waiting for Dad to throw a popcorn at her. He is always carrying food around and every time I ask why he always says that it's because he couldn't do it before, and now that he can he wants to take advantage of it. It's not a secret Dad didn't have an easy childhood.

"You missed!" my sister laughs again. She smiles as she notices me watching. "Hey, unni! Wanna play with us?"

"I'm fine, snail. I just like watching you guys"

I look around admiring the house, making it our home will be difficult but we can do it. "We should bring some of the boxes inside and find something to do. The trucks will be here in a couple of hours, so we can't really unpack until they are here" I say.

"Actually, I think there's something we can do while we wait." Dad says, I look at him with a question on my face.

"You know, finding a house these days isn't easy. I didn't find this one myself, someone told me about it." He says seriously. I didn't even have time to wonder how he found this house.

"Who told you then?" Is he seeing someone? Why didn't he tell me? He doesn't love Omma anymore? A million thoughts rush through my mind and I can't think straight.

"I kept in touch with one of my best friends from college. When he heard about the earthquake he contacted me and found out we lost our house, so he went looking for a house for us.

I let out the sigh I was holding, at least his friend is not a woman.

"The following day he found this one, right in front of his house"

"Wait, that means…"

The doorbell rings and my sister and I jump. My father laughs, I suppose it's his friend since we are now neighbors.

I open the door and find a woman with a young boy in her arms. "Hello dear!" She says, too loud for my own liking. "You must be Eun Chan! Your father has told us a lot about you and your sister."

"I'm sorry, but who…?

"Hwang Geum Hee? Is that you?" I hear my dad say.

"OH GI DONG!" This woman is so loud. It's just when she gets inside to hug my dad when I notice the other boy that came with her.

"Hey, you are my new friend right?" The boy looks at me with confused eyes and I laugh at my words because I can tell he doesn't know what I'm talking about. "Yeah, you know, I said hi to you from the balcony a few moments ago. That was you right?"

"Oh, yes, it was me"

"My name is Oh Eun Chan. What's your name?"

"Seung Jo. Baek Seung Jo" he says, offering me his hand to shake. I can tell he is very polite.

"Well, nice to meet you Seung Jo." I shake his hand and move aside to let him in.

 **OH HA NI**

I like this house. It might be a little big as Eun Chan says, but it's lovely and I can't help but like it. I think she is sad we lost our last home because Omma used to live there with us. I don't blame her, she knew her better than I did. I only lived with her for four years, however I remember her very well.

She says she can still share rooms with me and Appa says that I need to learn to sleep alone. I'm not happy with that arrangement but I think it's the best for me. I can't stand the darkness and I don't think I ever will.

She leaves to look for a room and I stay next to my father. "Aren't you going to see your room, baby girl?"

"I'll let Unni find hers first."

Appa stays quiet, looking at me with caring eyes. "What?" I ask.

"Are you okay with this? Living here? Do you like this house?"

"I like this house, I think I will get used to it. The school is closer so I can walk now, or ride a bike. I think I'll be fine" As I say this I think of my sister. "I think she will be fine as well, we just need a little time."

"Are you sure you are only 10? Sometimes I doubt you are, you can be mature whenever you need to."

I laugh, it's not the first time he says it. I behave maturely when I need to, even though sometimes I don't want to.

"Let's play! Do you want a snack? I can throw popcorn at you!"

"YES! I know I can beat you this time!" I say running to an empty space in the middle of the house.

"Not if I don't let you!" He says, getting the popcorn from one of the boxes. It's funny how he always has food around.

"No cheating!" I prepare myself, opening my mouth as big as I can. "Okay Appa, I'm ready!" and he throws the first popcorn at me and missing my mouth. "You missed!" I laugh again. Then I notice my sister sitting at the bottom of the stairs and I don't lose time asking her to join us. "Hey, unni! Wanna play with us?"

"I'm fine, snail. I just like watching you guys"

I keep playing with dad as Eun Chan looks around the house. I can tell she is starting to like it.

"We should bring some of the boxes inside and find something to do. The trucks will be here in a couple of hours, so we can't really unpack until they are here" I jump in excitement. I can't wait for the truck to be here so I can unpack the new stuff we got.

"Actually, I think there's something we can do while we wait." I listen patiently as my dad tell us the story about his friend and this house. When I meet him I must thank him for letting us know about this beautiful house.

The bell rings and I run to stand next to my father as my sister gets the door. I can hear the woman's voice but I can't see her yet.

"Hwang Geum Hee? Is that you?" Appa says.

"OH GI DONG!" The woman let herself in and I see she's carrying a little boy. I can tell he's about two years old. Then she hugs Appa with one arm while still carrying the baby on the other.

"Ommo! You must be Ha Ni!" She looks at me smiling. She's very pretty, I like her smile. She kneels to let the baby down and takes my face. "You are prettier than I imagined. I have heard a lot about you girls, you both are perfect, I must say. I'm Hwang Geum Hee, but you can call me Omma!"

She says this just as my sister enters the room, I look at her expression and I can tell she's not happy with this woman telling me to call her Omma.

"Geum Hee – ssi. Is that…?" Appa asks.

I didn't notice there was another person in the room until appa mentioned it. I think I've seen him before, but I'm not sure.

"Ommo, yes, yes. I was so excited to see you guys that I forgot to introduce you. This little one here is Eun Jo. He's only two years old" She picks up the baby again and takes his hand in a greeting motion.

"And this gentleman right here must be Seung Jo – ssi. Am I right? Appa says.

The boy takes a step and offers his hand. "Yes, Sir. My name is Baek Seung Jo"

I freeze as I realize the boy in front of me is the Great Baek Seung Jo. The most popular genius at school. I guess the uniform makes the difference.

 **Baek Seung Jo**

Omma is too excited about these new neighbors and I have a strange feeling about it. I heard my parents talk about them the other day, the Ajussi that is going to be our neighbor is my dad´s friend from college, he has two daughter and apparently one of them is about my age. Omma looked at me with a big smile and I automatically knew what it was all about. I am only 10 years old, I am not interested just yet, Omma.

She has been up since the sunrise, I heard her steps around the house. She woke me up with all that noise and I´m not in the best mood right now.

"Seung Jo ah! Please go get ready, we are going to meet the new neighbors" Omma says. I look at her and she smiles at me.

"I haven't finished eating breakfast, Omma. Can we wait for a little more?" I almost beg. I really don't want to meet them. It's not that I'm this kind of person, it's just that I know my mother.

"Sure, honey. I thought you were done. I need to prepare Eun Jo, so when you are finish eating you can go change"

"Yes, Omma"

I eat my breakfast as slow as I can. There's no rush, right?

I wait until the very last moment to get up, clean the table and go to my room. Omma is still preparing some stuff for today. She's been cleaning and cooking all morning. I guess I know what her plans for today are.

As I climb up the stairs I spot one of my new neighbors across the balcony and I get closer to the window, I guess she's the older one since she doesn't look my age. Then she sees me and I freeze, I'm not supposed to be looking at her through the window, what if she thinks I'm a creep? But then she smiles at me and waves. I guess I get scared since the only thing I can do right know is try to give a smile and run to my room. Agh! How embarrassing!

When we arrive to the house, Omma is too excited to even let the girl talk. I recognize her as the girl that waved at me just a few moments before. Then I hear the voice of a man calling Omma's name, I guess that's my dad's college friend.

"Hey, you are my new friend right?" The girl at the door says and I look at her with confused eyes, I know what she's talking about, I just didn't think she would even remember me. "Yeah, you know, I said hi to you from the balcony a few moments ago. That was you right?"

"Oh, yes, it was me" I say.

"My name is Oh Eun Chan. What's your name?"

"Seung Jo. Baek Seung Jo" I answer, offering my hand for her to shake.

"Well, nice to meet you Seung Jo." She says as she shakes my hand.

As she let me in I give myself the chance to really look at her. She has very short hair and doesn't really dress like a girl. I could easily think of her as a boy if I didn't know the truth.

Omma is still excited, taking another girl's face between her hands leaving my little brother on the floor. I can tell that's the other girl my parents talked about since she looks my age or even younger.

"Geum Hee – ssi. Is that…?" The ajussi asks my mother.

Then the little girl looks at me and I can't help but feel that I've seen her before, I just can't remember the place or the moment.

"Ommo, yes, yes. I was so excited to see you guys that I forgot to introduce you. This little one here is Eun Jo. He's only two years old"

"And this gentleman right here must be Seung Jo – ssi. Am I right? Ajussi says.

"Yes, Sir. My name is Baek Seung Jo" I say shaking his hand.

"Seung Jo – Ssi! This is Oh Ha Ni, you already met Oh Eun Chan and this man right here is Oh Gi Dong. You dad's friend and now our neighbors"

"Nice to meet you all" I say bowing.

"Ommo! This boy is very polite, you raised him well Geum Hee – ssi."

I can see my mom smiling proudly, I know so many things because of her. Even though she can get crazy sometimes, she is still the best Omma ever.

"Seung Jo. Ha Ni – ah goes at the same school as you. You must have seen her before" Omma says.

I look carefully at the girl, I knew I had seen her before. She's the one that always helps others with the vending machine when their drinks get stuck. I always thought it was interesting, but not enough for me to approach her.

"I don't think I have. Nice to meet you Ha Ni – ssi"

Her face turns red as she answer me and I find it funny. I guess she recognizes me, I'm the most popular boy at school after all.

"Now that you know each other you can keep on being friends. Seung Jo, you and Ha Ni can walk to school together, you can show her the way and keep her company. Don't you think that's a good idea Gi Dong-ssi?"

Ommoni, I know what you are up to.

"Oh, yes. Seung Jo ssi, would you help my Ha Ni to move around and protect her by being her friend?"

This is one of the reasons I didn't want to meet the new neighbors, not only my mother wants me to be friends with this girl, but she wants me to walk around with her, and her father agrees to this? I guess it makes sense, this girl don't know the streets around here and she kind of needs protection. She can tag along with me, but I won't ever be her friend, not if I want my mother to stop bugging me.

"Yes, Sir. I can show Ha Ni the way to school." There, I didn't say I would walk with her or protect her. She must be smart enough to learn the way since day one, this is going to be easy.

Except that it is not.


End file.
